Planoqraph co



s. A. M. v. BIDOU.

ARTIFICIAL LIMB.

APPLICATION FILED APR-25,1917.

PatentedSept. 16, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET I- //VV[/VTO/? Kain?! 1/320,

THE COLUMBIA PLANOGRAPH cm, WASHINGTON. D. c. I

e. A. Mfv. smou.

ARTIFICIAL LIMB.

APPLICATION FILED APR. 25, 19W.

Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2 a P L jfi W i q T "ma coumuu PLANounAPu' :0., WASHINGTON, I): c.

G. A. M. V. BIDOU.

ARTIFICIAL LIMB.

APPLICATION men APR. 25. 1911.

1,316,347. Patented Sept. 16, 1919.

3 SHEETS-S" 3.

' "WEI/[U17 48 571 61 Tm: cnLnMnIA I'LANDGRAPII 110., WASHINGTON, D1 6.-

'GABRIEL AUGUSTE MARIE vIcroR'BInoU, or ennnoiaiin rmncn, ASSIGN'OR 'ro LA socntrn DALPPABEILLAG-E MEnIcAnorenn-NoBLE, FRANCE.

ARTIFICIAL LTMB.-

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 16, 19 1 2 Application filed April 25, 1917. Seria1Io.-16 1,42i.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GABRIEL AU GUSTE MARIE VICTOR BIDoU, citizen of the Re- .public of France, and resident ofGrenoble,

France, post-ofiice address Villa Le Gui, 27

, Chemin Meney, have invented a new and useful Improvement in or Relating to Arti ficial Limbs, which improvements are fully set forth in the following specification.

The present invention relates to artificial limbs; and its essential object, briefly stated,

is theprovision of an improved devic of the general class or character lndicated,

which shall correctly imitate both the bony framework and the muscles of the natural limb, and shall possess the same joints, so as leg constructed in accordance with the in- I vention.

In-said drawing: I Figures 1 and 2 are, respectively, J a side elevation and a front elevation.

Figs. 3 and 4 are enlarged side and front elevations, respectively, of the knee joint.

Fig. 5 is anenlarged front elevation of,

the foot joint.

work of the human leg, and a system of conmain muscles thereof.

In Figs. land 2, a indicates a metal tube, which answers, generally, to the femur or T thigh bone of the leg, and is connected at, its upper end to a fork 6 provided with a. plurality of arms or branches. This fork b acts as a holder or carrier for a stump sup- "port 0 provided at its bottom with a steel cup d, to which the arms of the fork areriveted, the stump support being construct-'- Ied of celluloid or other suitable material and being so shaped as, to exactly fit the I stump of the leg to which it is to be fastened.

[The upper portions. of the fork arms are through the interfitting knuckles,

;a1so ivet'e(1 to the p t and Idtt -m and the 'femur tu'be a, are further secured together by means of metal braces e.

" i To the lower end of the tube a, there is attached, in the manner subsequently 'de--.

scribed, a longitudinally-adjustable .metal .toward'or from each other to respectively decrease or incre'ase'the length of the tube and, hence, of the leg itself, as will be understood. Thetube 7 answers to the'tibiafibula, or lower leg bones, of the humanleg,

. and is connected mule tube a by a joint .which corresponds tothe knee-joint and is llustrated .in Figs. 3 and 4:. As therein shown, the confronting ends of the tubes or and f are fittedwith cooperati'ng knucklemembers 9 and."1-' ,the stems of whichare nserted ln-the tube ends and rigidly secured therein. The'partormember g" is formed Wltll. two spaced knuckles g and g", which correspond -to"the condyles of the human. 1e

,and which receive between them the single knuckle of the part 1", the latter being provided at opposite sides ofsaid knucklewith cupped seats or sockets r and r for the reception of the .condyle knuckles g, Q. The 'rounded edge faces of the knuckles'g, are

equippedwith liners s of anti-friction metal, which playthe part of V cartilages'. in easing or-cushioning the relative movements ofthe parts; and the pivot pin sffwhich passes by .a tubes of anti-friction metal.

is incased The foot portion of the leg is connected to, the lower end of the tube 7 by means of a Joint similar, in the main,-,to. the knee-joint and=described more in detail later. .AS .shown inF-lgs. 1, 6 ,and7, the foot'consists of back and. frontjpartsh and i, which rest upon-and are secured to the felt sole is, and are-"connectedby a spring strip j (Fig'. :l).

. The back part it is in the form of a stamped metal plate, and it is separatedfromlthe -front part i, which is made of-wood,'by a space hQ'this space'ienabling the necessary movement of the said parts it and i relatively to each other, the spring returning said parts to normal horizontal position. The

joint between the foot and lower leg preferably consists of an upper'part or member g the, stem of which isfixed inthe lower end of tube f, anda lowenpart or member 'r I which is fitted to a small tube 2? mounted in the back part or plate h of the foot. The upper part or member gf of the jolnt is provided with two spaced knuckles g, Q, identical with those of the knee-joint, and the lower part or member 1* is provided with a pair of spaced, cupped seats or sockets r, r, located at opposite sides of a central knuckle which fits between the first-named knuckles, as shown in Figs. 5, 6 and 7. The tube t is arranged horizontally in plate h, and fits loosely within the part 7" on which the cupped sockets r, r and the intermediate knuckle are formed, so that it serves as a pivot about which the foot is enabled to turn sidewise to a slight extent.

The system of connecting springs employed inc'onjunction with the parts above described, is preferably as follows :At the front of the tube a, there is arranged a set of vertical springs Z, (four in the present 1nstance), which are attached at opposite ends to upper and lower horizontal bars Z, l, (Figs. 1 and 2) the upper bar being "S1111?- ably connected by short links Z to the cup d on the stump support c, and the lower bar being connected by relatively long links Z to Y a fcross pin or carried by the upper member of tube fls'ai'd cross-pin m having a stretching mechanism "m associated with it to regulate "the tension of the springs. These springs Z correspond to the quadriceps muscles of the leg and serve to control the return of the parts to normal position, or stated otherwise, to enable the leg to be extended and to make it execute the natural walking movements.

At the back of the leg, there is arranged a spring a, corresponding to the biceps muscles and connected at opposite ends to two cross pins n, n. The former of the two pins 'is carried by the tube a, and the latter by the upper member of the tube 7, and one 'or the other of them may be adjustably mounted, or may have stretching means of some character associat'ed'with it to control the tension of the spring. The said spring serves to compensate the action of the springs Z, and 'controlsthe bending of the leg on, or'with relation to, the thigh part.

The foot portion of the device has associated with it two springs 0 and 0, located, respectively, at the front and back thereof;

the lower ends ofsai'd springs being suitably attached to the metal plate h, and the upper ends thereof to the lower member of tube f adjacent its lower end, all as shown in detail in Fig. 6 and indicated diagrammatically in Fig. 1. In addition to the springs 0 and 0, two other springs p and p (indicated in Figs. 2 and 7, but omitted from Fi '6) are utilized; these springs 79, p having t eir rear .or upper ends attached to the part 7 embodied in the foot-joint in the manner indicated in Fig. 7 and their lower or front ends connected to plate h. As to the function of the several springs 0, 0, p and g, it may be stated that the first spring 0 enables and controls the lifting movements of the foot, and, therefore, answers to the lateral and fibular-tibialis muscles of the foot; the second spring 0 controls the bending movements of the foot and corresponds to the solear muscles; while the springs 17 and p serve as the articular tendons, and act to restore the foot to normal position after having been turned in one direction or the other at the foot-joint. The upper and lower parts of the devicethat is to say, the support 0 and its carrier fork Z) and tube a, and the adjustable tube f, respectively,are each provided with a set of what may be regarded as dressing or shaping springs, which are given the shape of the corresponding portions of the human leg. Thus, the upper springs c, which incase the parts 0, Z), a, conform to the shape of the thigh; while the lower springs 0 conform to the shape of the calf of the leg and incase the part The said springs v are connected to the support 0 and tube a in some suitable manner, and the springs '0 are connected to the tube f.

The structure is completed by a curved plate or block a, which is attached to the lower end of a leaf spring a, (Fig. 1), the latter having its upper end connected to tube a and acting to press the said plate outward. This plate or block plays the part of the knee, and preserves the appearance thereof in the artificial leg, when the latter is dressed. To prevent displacement of the said knee plate, it may be connected by a link u to the upper member of the tube 7.

While the structure above described is adapted to take the place of the entire leg, it is to be understood that the lower portion thereof might be used alone in cases where only the lower part/0f the leg is lost.

I claim as my invention 1. An artificial leg, comprising an upper tube; a stump support carried thereby; a lower tube jointed at its upper end to the lower end of the upper tube; a foot jointed to the lower end "of the lower tube; and a system of connecting springs between said lower tube and said upper tube and said foot.

2, Ari-artificial leg, comprising an upper tube; a fork connected to the upper end thereof; a stump support fitted in and secured to said fork; a lower tube jointed at its upper end'to the lower end of the upper tube; a foot jointed to the lower end of the lower tube; and a s stem of connecting in and securedto said fork; a plurality of springs arranged at the front of the upper member; and connected at their upper ends with the stump support; a cross-pin carried by said upper member at the back thereof; a pair of cross-pins carried by the lower member, one at its front and the other at its back; link connections between said springs and the front cross-pin on the lower member; a compensating spring located at the back of said members and connected at opposite ends with the back cross-pins; and a foot connected to said lower member.

4. In an artificial leg, the combination of a member corresponding to the bone of the lower leg; a foot; a joint between said leg member and said foot comprising a pair of cooperating hinged parts, one formed with a pair of spaced knuckles and the other formed with a single knuckle fitting be tween the first-named lmuckles and having a pair ofcupped sockets at opposite sides thereof to receive said first-named knuckles.

5. An artificial limb, comprising, in combination, a pair of juxtaposed members jointed together at their confronting ends for relative movement; a fork provided on the free end of one of said juxtaposed members; a stump support fitted in and secured to said fork; and a multi-part member jointed to the free end of the other juxtaposed member, the component parts of said multi-part member being capable of movement relative to each other.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence of two subscribmg witnesses.

Witnesses:

GEORGE Gmrs, WM. N. GEORGE.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner of Patents,

4 Washington, I). G. 

